WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 5 appeared to find no easy way to resolve an international child custody battle between a U.S. Army soldier and a Scottish woman, a battle with important ramifications for the power of federal courts.
The justices heard arguments in Chafin v. Chafin, 11-1347, in which Sergeant Jeffrey Lee Chafin argues that his appeal of a federal district court order returning his daughter to Scotland is not moot just because the child has left this countryan issue that has created a split in the federal appellate courts.
